This invention broadly relates to endoscopic instruments. More particularly, this invention relates to a multifunction endoscopic instrument including suction, irrigation and electrocautery means.
Tools having both suction and irrigation features are well known in the art. Perhaps the earliest combination tool of this type is shown in U.S. Pat. No. 1,114,268 to Kells which discloses a "Method For Surgically Cleansing Wounds and Other Surfaces" where an irrigation tube enters a suction tube and the suction tube is covered with gauze or a swab. Irrigation fluid wets the gauze or swab and is sucked back by the suction tube. Rubber hoses may be grasped to control flow. Variations on this type of device include one shown in U.S. Pat. No. 3,810,471 to Truhan which discloses a "Surgical Aspirating Cannula". This is a combined irrigation-suction device where the suction tube is located within and is coaxial with the irrigation tube, and irrigation fluid is delivered in the annular space between the tubes. The distal end of the outer irrigation tube is sealed to the inner suction tube and the irrigation tube is provided with lateral openings. Even more recently, additional features have been added to combined suction-irrigation tools. U.S. Pat. No. 4,617,013 to Betz discloses a "Method and Apparatus For Surgical Irrigation, Aspiration and Illumination" having coaxial fiber optic, aspiration and irrigation tubes.
Tools combining suction and cautery features are also well known in the art and an early tool of this type is shown in U.S. Pat. No. 2,888,928 to Seiger which discloses a "Coagulating Surgical Instrument" where combined cauterizing and suction is provided by a hollow tube cautery probe to which a suction tube is attached. The cauterizing tip is conical with a small opening at the apex of the cone and several lateral openings spaced down from the apex. More recent improvements in this type of tool are shown in U.S. Pat. No. 4,307,720 to Weber which discloses an "Electrocautery Apparatus and Method and Means for Cleaning the Same". This is a combination cautery-suction device where electrode and vacuum tubes are arranged parallel to each other in the same "wand". The electrode is retractable into the wand and retraction of the electrode scrapes the surface of the electrode to clean it. Other variations of this type of tool include yet other features. U.S. Pat. No. 4,207,874 to Choy discloses a "Laser Tunneling Device" which is a probe for a tube such as a blood vessel. The probe includes central fiber optics for illumination, viewing, and laser output surrounded by a coaxial tube with a switchable valve for aspiration or irrigation.
More recently, suction, irrigation, and cautery have been combined in the same tool. U.S. Pat. No. 4,886,491 to Parisi et al discloses a "Liposuction Procedure with Ultrasonic Probe" which includes ultrasonic cautery, suction and irrigation in the same probe.
While many of the tools of the prior art served a purpose at the time they were invented, they are generally inapplicable in today's modern endoscopic surgical procedures. An endoscopic procedure typically involves the use of trocars for making one or more small incisions in the abdomen or chest cavity. Trocar tubes are then left in place in the abdomen or chest cavity so that optical tools may be inserted therethrough for viewing and endoscopic surgical tools may be inserted therethrough for operating. A camera or magnifying lens optical tool is often inserted through the largest diameter trocar tube (e.g. 10 mm diameter) while a cutter, dissector, or other surgical instrument is inserted through a similarly sized or smaller diameter trocar tube (e.g. 5 mm diameter) for purposes of manipulating and/or cutting the internal organ. Sometimes it is desirable to have several trocar tubes in place at once in order to receive several surgical instruments. In this manner, organ or tissue may be grasped with one surgical instrument, and simultaneously may be cut or stitched with another surgical instrument; all under view of the surgeon via the camera in place in another trocar tube.
Those skilled in the art will appreciate that endoscopy is a rapidly growing field of surgery because it is less invasive than classical surgery. However, it will also be appreciated that even with endoscopic surgery where the incisions are typically small, it is advantageous to limit the number of incisions made. The number of incisions must be balanced against the desirability of having several tools inserted and available simultaneously to the surgeon. Likewise, while it is possible to remove endoscopic tools and insert different tools during a procedure, it will be appreciated that repeated insertion and removal of different endoscopic tools through the trocar tubes is preferably avoided, as it can be difficult to locate the new tool at a desired location, and each insertion of a tool increases the risk of unnecessary trauma to the surgical site area.
Some attempts have been made to provide multi-functional endoscopic tools so that the number of incisions may be minimized while at the same time providing the physician with several tools available simultaneously. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 4,708,136 to Saito discloses a "Cautery Hemostatic Unit" which is deliverable through an endoscope and includes an irrigation nozzle. Other combination endoscopic tools are known and generally include combination suction-irrigation and suction-cautery probes. All of these probes occupy a trocar tube when use and no other tools may be inserted in the trocar when occupied by one of these probes. Additional combinational tools and prototypes recently introduced include tools which have a plurality of different distal end portions which can be attached and removed from a single handle as desired to accomplish different functions. However, this arrangement requires repeated insertion and removal of the endoscopic tool through the trocar tube to the surgical site.